That propelled the worldwide gross of the biopic of wrestling coach Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters, world-class wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari, to 1,870 crore ($281 million), by far an all-time record for an Indian release.

Chennai-based B.O. tracker Ramesh Bala predicts an eventual total of $190 million-$200 million in China. He attributes the phenomenal run to a combination of factors including the themes of sport and women’s empowerment, its emotional appeal and Aamir Khan’s star power after the success in China of PK and 3 Idiots.

More conservatively, analyst Sumit Kadel expects a lifetime haul of $180 million. He too believes Khan has gained the trust of Chinese audiences and notes the film benefited from Khan’s week-long promotional visit.

Another factor, according to Singapore-based analyst Ayyappa Kumar, is that as an original film Dangal provides content which Chinese moviegoers had not seen and which does not follow the Hollywood template.

Directed by Rajikumar Hirani, 3 Idiots was a commentary on India's education system, which in some respects resembles China's. Also directed by Hirani, PK lampooned religious dogmas and superstitions, themes which clearly resonated among moviegoers.

Many Chinese now see Indian movies as well-packaged, well-told stories, Gu Wangcheng, a partner at Peacock Mountain Culture and Media, which makes Sino-Indian co-productions, told the China Daily.